Snap-seal.



E. J. BROOKS. SNAP SEAL.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 1, 1912.

1,030,457. Patented June 25, 1912.

, INVENTOR Attorney EDWARD J. BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SNAP-SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1912.

Application filed April 1, 1912. Serial No. 687,616.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of East Orange, in the State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Snap-Seals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates, in common with previous improvements, toself-fastening seals, or snap seals as they are commonly termed, foruse, as substitutes for lead and wire seals and other press-fastened orpressfastenable sealing devices, to secure the doors of railway freightcars and for other like purposes. Examples of such snap seals are setforth in my specifications forming part of United States Letters PatentNo. 1,017,950, dated February 20, 1912, and other Letters Patent thereinreferred to.

The present invention is more particularly additional to the improvementin snap the form of tubes one within the other within a bulb-shapedsheet-metal seal part that may be and preferably is also of one piece,and only one end of the shackle is snap fastened.

The present invention consists in an improved snap seal of that type,and in certain novel combinations of parts embodied there in ashereinafter particularly described and claimed.

The leading object of this invention is to more securely lock the snapfastened end within the preliminarily fastened sheath end of theshackle.

Other objects will be set forth in the gen- 1 deep end notch, 9, andwith a relatively eral description which follows.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of the seal part and shackle,respectively, as they appear before being united; Fig. 3 is an elevationof the improved snap seal as it leaves the factory with its memberspreliminarily united; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the snap-fastened sealin use as a car-door fastening; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the seal as itleaves the factory with the shackle in section on the line A-B, Fig. 3;Fig. 6 represents a section through the snap-fastened seal on the lineC-D, Fig. 4; and Fig. 7 represents a longitudinal section on the lineEF, Fig. 6.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in all the figures.

In common with my said patented snap seal set forth in Letters PatentNo. 1,017,950, the improved snap seal as shown is composed of abulb-shaped seal part a and a flexible shackle 6, both of any suitablesheetmetal and each complete in one piece; the seal part a is in theshape of a cup or vase, round in cross section, with its upper edge orlip turned in and a central round inlet thus formed, as representedrespectively at 1 and 2 in Fig. l and other figures; the shackle ends, 3and 4, are tubular and adapted to fit slidably one within the other; thelarger or sheath end 3 is preliminarily, fastened within the seal partby contracting the latter tightly around it; the other shackle end, 1,is snap-fastened within the seal part after being passed through a pairof car-door staples, 0, cl, Fig. 1, or the like; and the shackle endsare connected by a fiatbody portion, 5, which is provided with anydesired lettering or distinguishing marks represented by 19670 and I X YRy. Fig. 8, and is adapted to be readily cut through to remove the seal.In the improved snap seal said sheath end 3 of the shackle b isconstructed with a pair of circumferential embossed beads, 6, tocooperate with the inturned edge surrounding the hole 2 in the top ofthe seal part a, and with lower end portions, 7, adapted to cont-actwith the bottom 8 of the seal part as in Fig. 7, and to be presseddownward tightly against the same when the seal part is contracted topreliminarily fasten this shackle end. Between said end portions 7, oneach side of said sheath end 3, the improved shackle is provided with ashort catch portion, 10, within the notch on each side of the shackle;and the other shackle end, 4:, is correspondingly constructed with apair of deep end notches, 11, and with outturned and rebent hooks, 12,at the extremities of the catch portions between these notches 11; saidcatch portions 10 of the sheath end and the catch portions supportingsaid hooks 12 of the other shackle end being rendered yielding by saidnotches and being sufliciently resilient and so constructed and arrangedas to adapt said hooks 12 to interlock with said catch portions 10immediately above said bottom 8 of the seal vided with a circumferentialindented bead,

15, Figs. 2, 3, and 7, located at a convenient point which is above saidsupplemental snap catches 13 in the fastened seal, as shown in Fig. 7,to prevent access to the snap catches as a whole through the interior ofthe tubular shackle ends.

In practice the sheath end 3 embraces the inner end 4 closely enough toprevent the insertion of any tampering device between them, but theinterior of said inner end 4 is necessarily of sufficient diameter insome sizes of the improved snap seal to expose the snap catches 12 and13 to manipulation therethrough unless it be effectively obstructed insome way. It is so obstructed by contracting the same to a sufficientextent above all the catches in the fastened seal by said indented bead15, as shown in Fig.7.

The notches 9 and 11, catch portion 10 and hook 12 at one side of theshackle may obviously be omitted; or there may be more than two of each;and other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention, anddesire to patent under this specification:

1. An improved snap seal having, in com bination, a bulb-shaped sealpart constructed with a downwardly pressing inturned edge surrounding acentral hole in its top, and a flexible shackle constructed with atubular sheath end provided with a circumferential bead adapted tocooperate with said edge to preliminarily fasten this shackle end withinthe seal part; said sheath end being further constructed with endportions adapted to contact internally with the bottom of the seal part,and notches separating said end portions, and the respective shackleends being provided with catch portions including catch portions withinsaid notches adapted to interlock with each other within the seal partimmediately above said bottom when the seal is snap fastened. v

2. The combination, in a snap seal, of a bulb-shaped seal part and aflexible shackle having tubular ends, one of which is a sheath end,connected by a flat body portion; said sheath end being preliminarilyfastened within said seal part and 0011- structed with an end notch anda catch portion within said notch, and the other tubular shackle endbeing slidably insertible endwise into the said sheath end andconstructed with a hook-shaped catch portion at its extremity adapted tointerlock with said catch portion of the sheath end at the snapfastening operation.

3. The combination, in a snap seal, of a bulb-shaped seal part and aflexible shackle having tubular ends, one of which is a sheath end,connected by a flat body portion; said sheath end being preliminarilyfastened within said seal-part and constructed with an end portionadapted to contact with the bottom of said seal part internally, an endnotch and a catch portion within. said notch, immediately above saidbottom of the seal part, and the other tubular shackle end beingslidably insertible endwise into said sheath end and constructed with ahookshaped catch portion at its extremity adapted to interlock with saidcatch portion of p the sheath end at the snap-fastening operation.

4. The combination, in a snap seal, of a bulb-shaped seal part and aflexible shackle having tubular ends, one of which is a U sheath end,connected by a flat body portion; said sheath end being preliminarilyfastened within said seal part and constructed with a plurality of endportions adapted to contact with the bottom of said seal partinternally, deep end notches between said end portions and a relativelyshort catch portion within each of these notches, and the other tubularshackle end being slidably insertible endwise into said sheath'end andconstructed with a hook-shaped catch portion arranged to interlock witheach of said catch portions of the sheath end at the snapfasteningoperation.

5. The combination, in a snap seal, of a bulb-shaped seal part and aflexible shackle having tubular ends, one of which is a sheath end,connected by a flat body portion; said sheath end being preliminarilyfastened within said seal part and constructed with one member of a snapfastening device located within the seal part and the other tubularshackle end being slidably insertible endwise into said sheath end andconstructed with the other member of said ternally, an end notch, acatch portion Within said notch immediately above said bottom of theseal part and one member of a supplemental snap-catch device above saidcatch portion, and the other tubular shackle end being slidablyinsertible endWise into said sheath end and constructed With ahook-shaped catch portion at its extremity and the other member of saidsupplemental snap catch device, and adapted to inter- 0 lock With saidsheath end at the snap-fastening operation substantially as hereinbeforespecificed.

EDl/VARD J. BROOKS.

Witnesses: I

G120. O. ToTTnN, VINCENT VVEAVER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

